Once a upon a time, there lived a king who grew old without having married. The king was too preoccupied with running his kingdom smoothly and peacefully that he had put off marrying to later. The townspeople loved their king because he was kind and just. They encouraged him to find a woman to marry.

Soon enough, the king found a beautiful but much younger woman to marry. The young woman respected the king so she agreed to marry him. However the woman did not feel any love for him except as a king. The two were married and the young woman was brought to the palace where she was to live.

The king tried to woo his wife every single day. He would have beautiful dresses made for her and bought her the most expensive jewelries. He gave everything that his wife would ask for. The king loved his wife very much however she could not learn to love him back. He was too old she said and she likened the king to that of a father. The king no longer knew what he could do to make his wife fall in love with him.

One day, a hermit came to the palace. He had heard of the king’s problem and claimed that he had an answer to it. The hermit gave the king a potion that was made from the egg of a black Tabon bird, the milk of a white buffalo and a drop of the sap from a magical tree. This was to be planted on the ground and the fruit that grows from it was to be fed to the queen.

The king did as instructed by the hermit. A plant indeed grew and soon it bore fruits which he fed to the queen. The fruit was very sweet and delicious. As the hermit had said it, the fruit had a magical effect and the queen soon fell in love with the old king.

Because he was now loved by his wife, the king was very happy. He threw a feast to celebrate this. He invited all of the important persons in the kingdom. Even the townspeople were invited to the celebration.

However, he left out one person. He had forgotten to invite the hermit who gave him the fruit. Upon hearing of the feast thrown by the king, he went to the palace where there was still celebration going on. He told the king that he was to be punished because he had been ungrateful to the person who helped him.

The hermit went near the plant and uttered a short incantation and then disappeared. Soon the fruit grew spikes and emitted a bad odor. Because of this, the queen would not eat the fruit and the magical effect wear off from her. She went back to her old self who did not love the king.